Secret Wars Ending MCU Phase 6 Would Break A Post-Avengers Tradition

Avengers: Secret Wars serving as the end of Phase 6 would break a long-running MCU tradition. Marvel’s current release slate extends all the way into 2026, with the sixth Avengers movie being the film that’s the furthest out on its schedule. It’s presumed that Secret Wars, which shares its name with a popular 1980s crossover event from Marvel Comics, will be the end of Phase 6 and the Multiverse Saga as a whole.

As its name implies, the Multiverse Saga’s main theme relates to the various realities and worlds existing in Marvel’s world. While not every installment in the Multiverse Saga ties into this concept, several fit into an overarching narrative that’s still unfolding. Central to this story is Jonathan Majors’ Kang the Conqueror, who has taken Thanos’ place as the big bad of the MCU and is set to kick off another crossover in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Whether Kang returns after that or not, whatever happens in the movie is expected to lead into Secret Wars, which could be the culmination of the saga’s entire story.

Secret Wars Could Be The First Avengers Movie To End A Phase Since 2012

If Secret Wars concludes Phase 6, this would actually be the first time an Avengers movie has filled this role in over ten years. In 2012, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes’ first big-screen team-up acted as a wrap-up of Phase 1, allowing Phase 2 to kick off with Iron Man 3 in 2013. Three more Avengers movies followed, but none ended a chapter in an MCU saga. Avengers: Endgame was the finale for a handful of MCU stories and characters, but wasn’t technically an ending to Phase 3; it was Spider-Man: Far from Home that served that purpose.

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When considering that these movies are team-ups that tie together individual plotlines, it makes sense that Avengers movies would indeed be used to end phases. That’s largely why it’s so interesting that Secret Wars would only mark the second time this has happened. As for why that is, the answer relates partially to the MCU’s tendency to release a smaller-scale film immediately after an Avengers movie. Similar to how Far from Home ended Phase 3, Ant-Man followed Age of Ultron to conclude Phase 2.

Why Secret Wars May Not Be The End Of MCU Phase 6

The idea that Avengers: Secret Wars is the movie that the preceding MCU installments have seemingly been building toward makes it a fitting choice for Phase 6’s ending, but as the situation with Endgame proves, that may not be the case. Not unlike what it did with the Infinity Saga, Marvel may intend to close out the Multiverse Saga with an unannounced, solo film for one of its characters. Since Shang-Chi 2 is confirmed to be in development but doesn’t have a release date, it could be the movie that fulfills this role. Spider-Man 4, which is all but guaranteed to happen at this point, stands out as another option.